Still Fighting
by krose240
Summary: Book 3 of the Still Dreaming Trilogy. Bruce/OC
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:**__ Sorry this is a day late for release, oh well._

* * *

It was now time for dinner and by now Rose and Loki had had some time to talk and begin training. Rose was naturally a quick learner and it helped that she had a natural talent for magic, being Loki's daughter. She'd learned to conjure simple things and to alter the appearance of her clothes, both of which she found very convenient. She'd changed from her green and gold dress into a pair of black skinny jeans and an emerald green tank top. It wasn't exactly princess attire, but Rose didn't care.

Loki slipped into the dining hall first and Rose followed him. She still found it odd to think of him as her father, so she continued to refer to him as Loki. Even though she didn't particularly like the man, he was her father and he was pretty much the only person she knew here on Asgard so she figured it best to stick near him. Loki sat beside Thor and Rose took the open seat beside Loki.

It wasn't until Rose sat down that she realized there was a woman there she hadn't seen before. Considering where she was sitting beside King Odin, Rose assumed this was the famed Frigga, Loki and Thor's mother. The Queen of Asgard glanced at Rose curiously for a moment before looking to Loki, then to Odin.

"Did I miss something?" Frigga asked.

Thor and Odin exchanged a look that said something along the lines of "oh crap, we forgot to tell her". Loki just smirked a bit, amused by the blatantly evident fact that his brother and step-father had failed to inform Frigga of their new guest.

"Umm," Thor mumbled, stumbling for words.

Rose swallowed a laugh and smiled towards Frigga. "My name is Rose Hunter," she said, "…it's a long story, but apparently Loki is my father."

Frigga nodded slightly, then looked to Odin. "And when were you going to inform me of this?"

"Eventually," Odin answered shifting his gaze away from Frigga.

Rose leaned over and whispered to Loki, "I can see now how easy it must have been for you to carry out your last attack." Loki smiled a bit at that and nodded his agreement.

"Loki, why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" Frigga asked.

"You didn't need to know," Loki replied.

"If it's any consolation, he didn't tell me either until a few hours ago," Rose said.

"Perhaps we should change the subject," Odin said, "I'd rather not start an argument at the dinner table."

Frigga nodded her agreement and looked to Rose. "Tell us about yourself," she said.

Rose frowned. "Can we go back to the other topic of conversation?"

"No, I'd like to hear this," Loki said with a smirk.

Rose shot Loki a glare. "Do you want me to send the Hulk after you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You can't exactly do that when you're stuck in a coma back on Midgard, now, can you?" Loki purred.

"Bastard," Rose muttered. Loki smiled and Rose ran a hand through her hair, annoyed.

"There's not much to tell," Rose said, "I mean, I've got anger management issues, but that's about it."

"Well, how do you cope with your anger?" Frigga asked.

Rose looked away and said, "If there's no one to yell at, I usually just sit down and sing. It calms me."

"You sing?" Thor asked.

"I'd like to hear you sing," Loki said with a grin.

"No," Rose replied.

"Why not?" Thor asked.

"I said no," Rose said.

"But I would like to hear you sing," Loki said.

"No," Rose said again, "absolutely not. I don't sing for audiences."

"But surely your voice is beautiful? Why hide it?" Frigga asked.

Rose frowned, then suddenly stood. "I think I need some air," she said, leaving without another word.

Everyone watched her go, unsure what to say or do. Finally, though, Loki stood.

"I should go talk to her," he said softly, rushing out after her.

"I'm proud of him," Odin said softly.

"What do you mean?" Frigga asked.

"He cares for her and he wants to do right by her," Odin said, "if that's not reason enough to be proud of Loki, I don't know what is."

* * *

Loki found Rose out on the veranda and went to approach her, but stopped instantly in his tracks when the sound of her voice reached his ears. She was singing, and he was certain he'd never heard anything so beautiful in his life.

"_So here's another day,_

_I'll spend away from you,_

_Another night I'm on another broken avenue._

_My bag is ripped and worn,_

_Then again now so am I,_

_Take what you want to take,_

_What you wanna take,_

_What you…_

_I miss the stupid things,_

_We'd go to sleep and then,_

_You'd wake me up and kick me out of bed at three a.m._

_Pick up the phone and hear you saying dirty things to me,_

_Do what you wanna do,_

_What you wanna do,_

_What you…_

_Take me with you,_

_I start to miss you._

_Take me home,_

_I don't wanna be alone tonight._

_And I do want to show you I,_

_Will run to you, to you 'till I,_

_Can't stand on my own anymore I,_

_Cross my heart and hope to die,_

_Cross my heart and hope to die,_

_Cross my heart and hope to…_"

Loki listened intently, deeply moved by the song Rose was singing. It was like he could feel her pain himself. Finally, though, he couldn't hear any more. He didn't like the way she could move him with her voice, which was rather ironic, considering one of his many names was Silvertongue.

"Rose," he said softly. Startled, Rose whipped around to glare at Loki.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I came to apologize," Loki admitted, "…but I got distracted…"

Rose frowned and looked away.

"You have a beautiful voice," Loki said, going to stand by his daughter and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I miss Bruce," Rose said softly, "I'm worried about him."

"That song…were you singing it about him?" Loki asked.

Rose nodded and gently laid her head on her father's shoulder with a sigh. "I wish there was a way to know that he was safe, that Betty hasn't hurt him."

"Rose, if you belong with him, and I'm certain now that you do," Loki said, "fate will find a way to return you to each other."

"How do you know?" Rose asked.

"Just trust me, Rose," Loki said, "if there's ever a time you should trust me, it's now."


	2. Chapter 2

Bruce opened his eyes and quickly closed them again, blinded by the bright light. He tried to sit up but found that his hands were restrained, and, upon further examination, so were his feet.

"What the hell?" he mumbled, opening his eyes again and squinting as they adjusted to the light. Where was he? Why was he tied down? More importantly, how the fuck did he get here? The last thing he remembered was getting into Betty's car and falling asleep.

Bruce was startled out of his thoughts as he heard a door open and turned his head to look in the direction of the sound. There stood Betty dressed in a lab coat, a smirk on her face that he didn't much like. It was unsettling, much like Loki's smirk. _Oh shit_, he thought.

"Oh good," Betty said, walking over to Bruce, "you're awake."

"Where are we?" Bruce asked.

"We are in one of the facilities that Daddy owns," Betty explained, "you're here under his orders."

Bruce narrowed his eyes at Betty. "And what exactly are you going to do with me?"

"We're going to figure out what makes you tick, Bruce," Betty said, grinning like a maniac, "and how we can harness your power."

"Over my dead body, Betty," Bruce spat.

At this, Betty laughed and purred, "That's the idea, Dr. Banner."

Before Bruce could realize what was happening, Betty pierced Bruce's skin with a syringe and Bruce's world faded to black.

* * *

Tony made his way through the halls of the hospital towards Rose's room. It was getting late and he figured it'd be best to make sure Bruce got something to eat. The last Tony had seen of Bruce he'd been reluctant to leave Rose's side. Tony could understand that. After all, Bruce had just broken up with Rose right before the accident. He had obviously felt terrible about that. Then again, Tony didn't really know what was going on in the doctor's mind, but that was his best guess.

He pushed open the door to Rose's room and frowned when he found that Bruce wasn't there. In an instant Tony turned and left the room, heading for the receptionist's desk.

"Hey," he said, watching as the receptionist turned around, "my friend, Dr. Bruce Banner, was in Miss Hunter's room earlier. He's not there now. Do you have any idea where he went? Did anyone come by?"

"Um," the receptionist said, searching through a pile of paper, "well, it says here that a Betty Ross and Bruce Banner signed out about three hours ago."

"Do you have any idea where they were going?" Tony asked.

"I think Betty said something about some tower," the receptionist said, "is there anything I can do for you?"

Tony frowned, then slipped away, pulling out his cell phone.

"_Stark, what is it?_" Fury asked from the other end of the line.

"I need you to do me a favor," Tony said, "send some agents to guard Rose's hospital room. I don't think she's safe."

"_What's going on, Stark?_"

"I think Bruce is in trouble," Tony said.

"_I'll send some agents right away_," Fury said, "_and I'll head over to the tower. I hope you intend to catch me up when I arrive._"

Fury hung up after that and Tony stuffed his phone in his pocket, leaving the hospital quickly, knowing he was running on a time limit. Bruce could be nearly anywhere in the country by now and who knew what was happening to him?

* * *

Bruce awoke later, groggy and weak. He had no idea how much time had passed, just that he barely had the strength to lift his head. _Must be the drugs_, he thought. Just like last time, Bruce made sure to do a mental check of his body. Everything seemed fine, for now.

The door opened and in walked Betty once again. She grinned and made her way over to Bruce.

"How are you feeling, Bruce?" she asked, laughing a bit.

"Why are you doing this, Betty?" Bruce asked, "Why are you going along with what General Ross wants?"

"Because he's right, of course," Betty said, "the Hulk is a powerful weapon, one that we could use. Daddy's been nice enough to offer you a choice: you can either surrender yourself to him and let him use the Hulk as an ally, or we can find a way to replicate your experiment gone wrong and make you suffer for your disobedience. What do you think?"

"I think I was a fool to ever consider taking you back," Bruce said, "I should have realized that you weren't who you used to be. I never should have broken up with Rose, that's what I think."

"What a lovely speech," Betty purred, "too bad she's not here to hear it. No one's going to come and save you, Bruce, so make your choice."

"I lose either way," Bruce said, "what's in it for me to surrender?"

"If you surrender, perhaps you'll live," Betty said, smirking.

"Go ahead and kill me then," Bruce spat.

"Is that what you want?" Betty asked.

"If my only choices are to surrender or die, I'd rather die," Bruce growled.

There was an evil gleam in Betty's eyes as she replied, "Then you will die, slowly and painfully."

Betty pressed a button on a small remote and turned to go. "Oh, and, by the way, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough that your friend the Hulk won't be able to help you here. I'll be back in a few more hours to administer another dose of the sedative. Until then, I hope you enjoy your evening's entertainment. It's sure to be…electrifying."

And then Betty was gone and the room was filled with the sound of Bruce's screams echoing off the walls as electricity was pumped into his body. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Rose gasped out and pushed Loki away, placing one hand on her forehead.

"Rose?" Loki asked, "Are you alright?"

"I…don't know," Rose said softly, "I just…suddenly felt a rush of…of electricity…it hurt…"

Loki frowned. "What were you thinking of?" he asked. Rose hesitated and Loki pressed, "Tell me, I might be able to explain."

"I was thinking of Bruce," Rose admitted, running a hand through her hair, still a bit in shock from the pain she'd just felt.

"Perhaps during the time you were training with him your mind formed a sort of link with his," Loki said.

"If that's true, then he's in trouble," Rose said softly, "he's in a lot of pain. Shit…and I'm stuck here! I can't do anything!"

"Calm down, Rose," Loki said, "we'll finish your training as quickly as possible. Perhaps once you know magic as I do you might be able to force yourself to awaken from the coma."

Rose nodded. "We have no time to waste."


	3. Chapter 3

"Stark, what the hell is going on?" Fury asked, stepping out of the elevator, his long black jacket trailing a few steps behind him. The director made his way over to the billionaire who sat with his head in his hands at his desk. There was a video clip on a constant loop on the screen before him.

"Jarvis, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Tony asked. There wasn't anger in his voice. There was pain and helplessness, something Fury had never seen in Tony Stark before.

"I tried to, sir, but you wouldn't listen," Jarvis explained.

"Stark…is that-?"

"Yes, it's fucking Betty Ross!" Tony exclaimed, whipping around to look at the director, "All of this, she planned it! She attacked Bruce! It's _her_ fault he got amnesia! It's _her_ fault that Rose is in a coma! _Betty was fucking driving the goddamn car_!"

Fury frowned, turning his attention back to the screen and watching for a long moment. He let out a sigh and turned away, pacing across the room. "We need to find her," he said.

"How?" Tony asked, "How can we find her? We don't have any leads! She could be anywhere…"

"Think about this logically, Tony," Fury said, "Betty took Bruce. Why would she take Bruce? What sort of value does he hold for her?"

"I don't know! She's psychotic!" Tony exclaimed.

"Her father is General Ross," Fury explained, "the one man in the world who has a bone to pick with the Hulk and isn't afraid to do whatever it takes to get his hands on him."

Tony's eyes widened at this. "You're saying…"

"I'm saying," Fury said, "Betty was working for General Ross all this time and under his orders."

"So if General Ross is behind this," Tony said, "that means-"

"That means," Fury interrupted, "that they're in one of the facilities he operates."

"Let's find ourselves a Jolly Green Giant!" Tony said, quickly turning around to face his computer screen and getting to work.

* * *

"Loki, I don't have the strength to continuously do this kind of magic, not like you do," Rose said, collapsing into a chair and closing her eyes as she leaned her head back, "…you forget, I'm still only human."

Loki frowned and grabbed Rose's hands, pulling her roughly to her feet. "No, you're not," he said, "you're my daughter."

"I'm also Jenna's daughter," Rose replied, opening her emerald eyes and gazing into her father's matching pair.

"Rose," Loki said, "I am not going to let you give up on this, not when you're so close to being fully trained."

"I don't have the strength, Loki," Rose said softly.

Loki smirked as an idea came to him. "You're right, not in this form," he said, "but perhaps in another."

"What are you..?" Rose trailed off, gasping softly as Loki's hand on her wrist suddenly became cold.

"Relax, Rose," Loki whispered, holding Rose close as he allowed himself to transform into his Frost Giant form, "…focus, try to remember what this feels like. You never know, being able to use this form at will might save your life."

Rose closed her eyes tight as the cold engulfed her, took over. Their skin changed to an icy blue, Loki refusing to release Rose's wrist. It was strange to Rose, this form. It felt so wrong to her, but at the same time so right. And the power, she felt the power it gave her. It was like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, having such power at her fingertips.

"Rose," Loki said softly, "open your eyes."

Rose obeyed, opening her eyes to look up at Loki. Loki's eyes were blood red, as she guessed her own were right then, and his smirk was rather menacing. But she wasn't afraid.

"Try it now," Loki whispered.

* * *

It was well into the night now and Tony had yet to narrow down much of anything. Fury was still pacing the room silently, glancing over the billionaire's shoulder now and then, but not interrupting. In fact, the first interruption of the night was a voice Tony wasn't expecting to hear.

"Found anything, Stark?" Natasha asked, leading Clint and Steve into the room.

Tony jumped to his feet and turned to face the group. "What the hell?" he asked, "Trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Took you long enough," Fury muttered.

Tony spun to look at Fury. "You knew they were coming and you didn't tell me?" he exclaimed.

"You didn't need to know," Fury stated.

"Didn't need to know?" Tony said, laughing a bit, "Didn't need to know? So what, you just _wanted_ me to die of a heart attack, then?"

"Focus, Tony," Natasha said, causing everyone to look to her, "what have you found?"

"Fat lot of nothing," Tony replied, "General Ross has tons of facilities. Bruce could be in any of them."

Clint pushed past Tony and went to look at the computer screen. "General Ross isn't stupid," he said, "he took Bruce and he knows we're going to try to find him. You ever heard that saying that the best place to hide is in plain sight?"

Everyone looked to the screen as Clint spoke, watching as he circled five different locations on the screen. "All five of these facilities are in close proximity to SHIELD bases," Clint explained.

"That narrows things down a bit," Tony remarked, staring in disbelief at the screen. He couldn't believe he'd missed that. Maybe Pepper was right, maybe he really needed to sleep more.

* * *

Rose closed her eyes for just a moment, then opened them, gasping. Loki smiled down at her and moved so Rose could see her own handiwork. There stood a perfect clone of Rose, exactly like the original. It smirked towards Rose and Rose smirked back, then let it disappear. But Rose wasn't quite satisfied. She conjured three of the clones this time. It was remarkable. She could feel all they felt and see all they saw, but she was still herself and they were just clones, albeit semi-autonomous copies of herself.

Rose closed her eyes at let the clones vanish before taking a step away from Loki. He dropped her hand and Rose reverted to her human form, the icy blue fading from her body until it disappeared completely. Loki watched this happen, then allowed the same to happen to him.

"Rose, you know enough for now," Loki said, watching his daughter as she examined her hands and then brushed her fingers through her bright blue hair.

"For now?" Rose asked softly.

"There is always more to learn," Loki explained, "but you know enough to wake up and save Dr. Banner."

Rose nodded and finally looked over at Loki, giving him a slight smile. "Before I go," she said softly, "…just tell me…did you love Jenna?"

Loki felt as though he'd been stabbed as those words left Rose's mouth. "I," he said softly, "…I've never loved anyone the way I loved Jenna…"

Rose nodded. "Tell everyone I said goodbye," she said softly, closing her eyes and fading away, leaving Loki alone in the room.

* * *

_**A/N:**__ Sorry I haven't updated recently. School got out for summer and my work decided to overload me with extra shifts. Plus, my allergies have been killer this season. Anyhow, please review!_


	4. Chapter 4

"Doctor, look at this," said a nurse, quickly waving over a tall blonde woman.

"What is it Patricia?" the blonde asked.

"Doctor," Nurse Patricia said, "Miss Hunter's brainwaves have spiked."

The blonde looked over Patricia's shoulder at the screen and nodded. "So they have."

"I think she's waking up," Patricia said, "but how is that possible? Her injuries were critical. She's only been in a coma for two days."

Another nurse came running down the hall and stopped as she caught sight of the blonde woman. "Doctor Markus," said the nurse, "Miss Hunter is waking up."

The blonde, Doctor Markus, nodded and motioned for Patricia to follow as she headed off after the second nurse. "I guess we can ask the patient herself," she said.

* * *

"I've managed to narrow our search down to three of the five bases we originally suspected," Tony said, laying a file on the conference table and sliding it over to Fury, "but I can't narrow it down any further without alerting General Ross that we're onto him."

Fury nodded, opening the file and spreading out the papers. There were anywhere from five to seven pages of information on each of the three remaining bases containing information like schematics and security codes.

"So where do we go from here?" Steve asked.

"Rose would know," Tony muttered, sighing and sinking down into his seat.

"I say Natasha and I investigate each of the bases," Clint said.

"That would take too long," Steve said, "who knows what they've already done to Bruce and how much time we still have to save him?"

"Then what the fuck do we do?" Fury asked.

_Knock, knock._

Everyone glanced towards the door as Agent Hill slipped into the room, a phone in her hand.

"We're busy, Hill," Fury said, watching as the agent made her way over to Tony.

"I know," Maria said, "and I think this takes precedence." She pressed the phone into Tony's hand, daring the director to do something. He didn't.

"Hello?" Tony said.

"_Mr. Stark_," came the voice of a woman.

"What is it?" Tony asked.

"_I'm Doctor Markus, Miss Hunter's caretaker_," said the woman, "_you're her secondary emergency contact._"

"I know," Tony spat, "now tell me something I don't know."

"_Miss Hunter is waking up._"

Tony's eyes went wide at this. He sat there for a moment, stunned. Suddenly, though, he stood and hurried out of the conference room, thrusting the phone back into Agent Hill's hands as he left.

"What the fuck?" Fury mumbled, dazedly following Tony out of the room and breaking into a run once he was in the corridor.

"Stark!" Fury called, spotting Tony slipping into an elevator. Rather reluctantly the billionaire held the elevator door for the director.

"What happened?" Fury asked.

"It's Rose," Tony explained, "she's waking up."

Fury's eye widened at this news. "I'll tell the others," he said, "and send everyone over to the hospital."

Tony nodded as the elevator doors opened and he stepped out. "I'll see you there."

* * *

Tony burst into the hospital room, startling Doctor Markus. He mumbled a quick apology and made his way over to the opposite side of the bed from the doctor.

"Her brainwaves spiked about an hour ago," Doctor Markus said, "and her mind's been overly active ever since. She's definitely waking up, but I don't see how it's possible…"

Tony just nodded slightly. "I've seen some crazy things in my life," he said, "Rose waking up after only two days of being in a coma in ICU wouldn't make the top twenty."

"Wouldn't make my…top fifty," Rose mumbled, opening her eyes for a second and wincing at the light, "…owww…"

Tony smiled just a bit. "Welcome back," he said.

"Funny how…appropriate…that is," Rose said, her eyes slowly adjusting to the light. She tried to sit up and gasped out in pain.

"You probably want to stay in bed," Doctor Markus said.

"No," Rose said, biting her lip through the pain as she forced herself up into a sitting position. She could tell she was hurt all over and it took her a moment to realize that her right arm was in a sling.

"Get this sling off," she said.

"But," Doctor Markus began.

"No buts," Rose said, cutting her off, "get the sling off, now!"

Reluctantly, the doctor did as she was told and removed the sling, wincing slightly every time Rose gasped out in pain.

"What the hell are you doing, Rose?" Tony asked, "You're in no condition to-"

"Shut up, Tony," Rose interrupted, "I need to focus."

Tony opened his mouth to protest, but stopped. Right before their eyes Rose began to heal herself. It was extraordinary and she was fully healed in less than a minute.

"Where the fuck did you learn that?" Tony asked once she was done.

Rose slipped out of the bed and waved her hand, changing her clothes into something more her style than the hospital gown. "Doesn't matter," she said, "Bruce is in trouble and we need to find him."

"How do you-?" Tony began.

"Betty crashed on purpose," Rose said, "she's got Bruce somewhere and she's torturing him."

"Torturing him?" Tony asked.

"You didn't know?" Rose asked.

"I was hoping he was just being held hostage," Tony replied.

"No such luck," Rose said, "…I need to see what you've got so far."

"The others are on their way here," Tony said.

"Well, tell them to turn around," Rose said, "we're going to them. Let's go."

"Can somebody please tell me what the hell just happened?" Doctor Markus asked.

Rose glanced back at the doctor and smirked a bit. "You're a smart woman," she said, "I'm sure you'll figure it out." With that, she grabbed Tony's hand a pulled him out of the hospital room, leaving Doctor Markus there stunned.

* * *

Everyone whipped around to face the door as they heard it open. Rose was the first one in, followed by Tony. Rose didn't stop to give the team a chance to register what they were seeing.

"Show me what you've got," Rose ordered. Fury didn't hesitate in sliding the file down to her, watching as she opened it and began examining the pages.

"How…?" Clint breathed, staring at Rose.

"Not important," Rose said, keeping her eyes on the pages, "we need to focus on the task at hand, not the impossibility of my current condition, alright?" On the last word she turned to glance at Clint with a raised eyebrow. Clint was silent and Rose took this to mean that he understood.

"So you've narrowed the search down to these locations?" Rose asked, pointing to the page that showed a map with each of the three facilities circled.

"Yes," Natasha said, "but we can't narrow it down any further without alerting General Ross that we're onto him."

"Sending in one or two agents at a time into each of the buildings is foolish," Rose said, "any number of things could happen and we need to be able to hold our own should we encounter any trouble. I say we go as a group and infiltrate the buildings one by one, starting with this one." She pointed to one base in particular and glanced around at everyone. "Any better ideas?"

"Tony…" Steve said, "I never thought I'd say this…but you were definitely right."

"About what?" Tony asked.

"'Rose would know'," Fury quoted, smirking just a bit.


	5. Chapter 5

Clint and Steve boarded the Quinjet and made their way up to the cockpit to start it up while the rest of the team gathered their weapons. Tony, in his typical style, was wearing a designer suit and carrying his Iron Man suit-case, and Natasha was double-checking that she had gathered all of Clint's and her own things. Rose was watching everyone prepare from a short distance away, fiddling absent-mindedly with her new outfit, having customized it after all this time. Instead of green and gold, like Loki, she'd gone for blue and black and had modeled her outfit after Asgardian style clothing. Strangely enough, she found herself quite comfortable in her new outfit.

Fury cleared his throat slightly, startling Rose out of her thoughts. She glanced up at him, pausing when she caught sight of what he was holding.

"You'll be needing this," he said, making to hand over Rose's rifle, but Rose pushed it away.

"I don't want it," she said.

"Are you sure?" Fury asked, "What if something happens?"

"That's why we're a team," Rose replied, turning to head for the Quinjet and Natasha and Tony loaded in the last of the things and got in themselves. Rose took up the rear and pressed the button to close the door.

Fury crossed his arms over his chest and watched as they took off, silent as the grave.

* * *

"Okay, Rose, you're gonna have to explain yourself," Clint said from the cockpit.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"What's up with these new powers of yours?" Natasha asked.

Rose glanced over at Tony and sighed a bit, running a hand through her hair as Steve added, "And why the new outfit?"

"I found it…fitting, I guess is the word," Rose answered.

"How is an Asgardian style outfit 'fitting'?" Clint asked.

"If you stop talking I'll tell you," Rose replied, pausing a moment to gather her thoughts.

"Please don't freak out," she said, "…I'm kind of…well, I'm…Loki's daughter."

Nothing. Not a word. Just silence in the aircraft as those words sank in. Natasha, for once, looked stunned and Rose guessed Steve and Clint's expressions at that time were about the same. Tony, on the other hand, was just smirking to himself smugly. When Natasha saw that her expression changed in an instant to one of annoyance.

"You knew about this, Stark?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Obviously," Tony replied, rolling his eyes.

"And you didn't tell us?" Clint growled from the cockpit, clearly more than pissed with this news. Uh-oh.

"I told Fury," Tony said, "…and Thor…and called Loki out on it…he kinda just smirked at me and said it had taken me long enough."

"And how long have you known about this, exactly?" Rose asked, turning to Tony and narrowing her eyes at him, "Because I only just learned about it a few days ago in a fucking coma."

"Long enough," Tony replied, "anyhow, shouldn't you be explaining how you learned that cool healing trick you did at the hospital?"

"Don't change the subject," Rose said.

"Actually, for once I'm with Tony," Steve called back. Tony just smiled that billion dollar smile of his and Rose let out a sigh before continuing with her explanation.

"While I was in my coma, my consciousness somehow managed to travel to Asgard," Rose said, "Loki explained everything to me and I explained to him that Bruce was in trouble. He trained me in magic and once he thought I'd learned what I needed to for this rescue mission, I left."

"So that's why you didn't bring your rifle," Tony muttered.

"No offense, Rose," Clint said, "but I'm not sure I can trust you anymore…Loki did, after all, put me under his control for about three days. That man is fucked up and I don't know if that kind of psycho is genetic."

Rose raised an eyebrow at that. "Really, Clint? That's illogical. After all, if I had any intentions to do anything, wouldn't I have done it by now?"

"Mrs. Spock here has a point," Tony piped up, earning a glare in response from Rose.

"Don't we have more important things to think about?" Steve asked, "Like what our plan is for this mission exactly?"

"It's simple: we bust down the door and demand Brucey back," Tony replied sarcastically.

"Not helping, Tony," Natasha muttered.

"We need stealth," Steve said, "someone needs to go in and figure out if this is even where they're keeping Bruce."

"Natasha and I can do that," Clint suggested.

"But this thing needs two pilots," Rose said.

"Tony could take my place," Clint offered.

"Could…doesn't mean I want to," Tony muttered.

"There, all settled," Clint said.

"Sorry Tony," Natasha said, smirking just a bit, "Clint's such an ass sometimes."

* * *

_**A/N:**__ Look…writer's block is a bitch so here's about 800 words so you all don't die from the suspense of waiting for a new chapter…_


End file.
